1918 թ. Օսմանյան կայսրությունում Հայոց ցեղասպանության քննարկումների շուրջ

Abstract

 The public debates over the massacres of Western Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in October-December 1918 are of particular importance for the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocid. They influenced the criticism of the government during the hearings in the Ottoman Parliament as well as on trials and verdicts of the former leaders of the Young Turks in the Turkish military tribunals. To suppress the voice of the international community's protest and in order to avoid international responsibility and further obligations, the government of Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin took measures to punish members of the Young Turks and the ''Union and Progress'' Party. Through the media the new Ottoman authorities and the public demanded severe punishment for those responsible for the deportation and massacres of Armenians. This was due to the fact that there was so much information about the massacres and deportations of the Armenian people, which could not be avoided and circumvented. Thus, Sultan Mehmed VI tried to separate the Sultanate from the crimes committed by the government ordering the Sultanate to persecute the leaders of Ittihat, on the one hand, and to exclude the guilt of the state and the people, on the other.